Basketball singles court

ABSTRACT

A basketball court with narrower sidelines ( 11 ) yet abiding by the conventional rules of basketball as well as the other boundaries including rim height ten feet, foul line ( 16 ) at fifteen feet from the basket and half court line ( 12 ). The new boundary resembles the lines for singles matches ( 21 ) on a tennis court.

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent applicationSer. No. 61/795,510 filed on Oct. 19, 2012 by the present inventor.

BACKGROUND Prior Art

No prior art exists for this court size but there are standard sizebasketball courts for different levels of competition. The NationalBasketball Association (NBA) has court dimensions of ninety four feetlength by a width of fifty feet. The International Basketball Federation(FIBA) a slightly smaller dimension of ninety one point eighty six feetlength by forty nine point twenty one feet. The Women NationalBasketball Association (WNBA) and the National Collegiate AthleticAssociation (NCAA) dimensions are the same as National BasketballAssociation. Standard U.S. High School court size is eighty four feetlength by fifty feet width. The dimensions for U.S. Junior School areseventy four foot length by forty two foot width. On all of these levelsthe rim height is the same at ten feet about the ground. There are otherdimensions which include the Center Circle which is used in the tip offto start a game or in what is called a “jump ball” if called by areferee near the Center Circle. The Center Circle is exactly in thecenter of the court halfway between the width and length of the court.There is also a Three point line beyond which a team and player is giventhree points instead of the regular two points for a successful shot.The distance for the NBA is twenty two feet. For the FIBA and WNBA thedistance is twenty one point sixty five feet. For the NCAA the distanceis twenty point seventy five feet and for high school, nineteen pointseventy five feet. The Three point line is a semi circle of thedifferent distances on each end of the court. The foul line where aplayer shoots a “free throw” is a standard fifteen feet for all levelsof play except for the FIBA which is fifteen point zero nine feet.

The three second lane is sixteen feet for the NBA and WNBA, sixteenpoint zero eight feet for the FIBA and twelve feet for both the NCAA aswell as high school as well as junior high school.

All of these dimensions have been developed to suit the play of a fiveon five game but are not ideal for a one on one game. They are not idealalso for a two on two, three on three or four on four game. Consequentlymost games which do not involve five on five or ten players are usuallyplayed using only half the court where both sides use the same basket.

Playing a full court one on one game is not a game players enjoy sincethe boundaries offer too much space for the defensive player to cover.Much like tennis which is also played on a court, the dimensions of thecourt are narrowed offering the offensive server more of a challenge andthe defensive player less of an area to cover for returning the serve.The same principal of a narrower court for singles tennis as oppose todoubles also applies to singles basketball. The narrower court also ismore realistic in that the ballhandler in a conventional five on fivegame is always restricted due to the fact that there are many otherplayers on the court and it usually doesn't make sense to dribble intoan area where two people can cover the offensive player. Dribblersgenerally move to areas where there are openings or where other playersscreen. The limited space is similar to narrowing the width of the courtin the basketball singles game. The narrower court also makes for abetter full court two on two, three on three and four on four game.

SUMMARY

By applying the same principal of a narrower court like in tennis for asingles match, narrowing a basketball court width makes for an enjoyableand challenging full court game of basketball with less than theconventional five on five game.

ADVANTAGES

The narrower court restricts the offensive players options and is morelike a conventional five on five game in that the space to evade thedefensive player is more limited. Likewise it is easier to play defenseagainst the offensive player like a tennis player in a singles matchdefending a narrower court.

Playing full court one on one is a more vigorous workout which canimprove a players skills. Full court basketball involves much morerunning than half court basketball. We should for health benefitsencourage more full court play.

DRAWING REFERENCE NUMERALS

11 singles side line 12 half court line 13 conventional sideline 14basket 15 end line 16 foul line 17 lane line 18 center circle 21 singlesmatch boundary 22 doubles match boundary

a. The boundaries of a narrower basketball court with all otherdimensions being the same as a conventional court. b. The decision tomake a tennis court narrower has resulted in a bifurcation of the of thegame into two different categories of tennis, single and doubles, playedthroughout the world in millions of formal and informal matches. Abasketball court using the same logic could make a narrower court gameequally as challenging and popular. c. The game provides a greaterchallenge in that the players are running up and down the court givingthem a better workout as a form of exercise. d. The full court formatalso challenges the players basketball skill and can translate into alearning activity which help improve performance especially ballhandling skills. e. The full court narrower court increases the timespent running during the game improving the players endurance andstamina. f. The narrower court also makes it more challenging andenjoyable for playing a full court two on two game. g. The narrowercourt makes it more challenging and enjoyable for playing a full courtthree on three game. h. The narrower court makes it more challenging andenjoyable for playing a full court four on four game. i. The narrowercourt can be an incentive for people to exercise since merely jogging orrunning becomes boring to some people as compared to a game sport. j.Though there are no physical restrictions on a full court game on acourt with a standard with, and millions of games of one on onebasketball are played every year rarely do players play full court butopt for a half court format. j. The novelty of full court one on one ona narrower court is that it plays like a five on five game on a courtwith conventional boundaries. k. Narrowing the boundaries is not obvioussince millions of courts exists, the games advantages are numerous andadding the additional boundaries on a court is of little costs. l. Theboundaries can be as narrow as the width on the sides of the 3 secondlane. Or within a foot of the conventional court width. Or any dimensionin between. m. The game can also be played with a rule to restrict theoffensive player from shooting the initial shot on a time down courtwithin the lane or 3 second area. After an initial attempt subsequentshots can be shot from within the lane area.